Since 2011, all of EA's games released on PC have been tied to Origin. PC gamers who wanted to play Battlefield 3 or Mass Effect 3 logged in through the orange-hued Steam competitor, and now it seems that Wii U owners will do the same.

As IGN reports, recent changes to the EA privacy policy indicate that a login to the service will be required for Wii U games. Specifically, one section reads, "If you sign up to play EA games through a Nintendo Wii U console, your Nintendo account information will be provided to EA so that we can establish an Origin Account for you. You need an Origin Account to play EA's titles online."

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Owners of PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of games like Mass Effect 3, and users of mobile apps and games like the Mass Effect 3 Datapad or The Simpsons: Tapped Out, already associate an Origin ID with their EA console games in order to play online.

Three games from EA are already confirmed to be released in the Wii U's initial "launch window:" Mass Effect 3, Madden 13, and FIFA 13.